Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

No.
There is a function called Startover for some of the channels that allows you to watch all of a programme that has already started.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Its a bit of a con really. This "Startover" is only available on select shows where the concerned episode was already available in that channels Catch Up app, where it was already previously available to watch anyway. BBC content just plays from the start akin to iPlayer. All of which the V6 TiVo previously done.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Startover is different, I believe, than what was available on V6, covering more channels.
To quote the TV 360 Virgin Media guy on the community forum:
“ Essentially we record everything in the cloud for the enabled channels and that’s what you can tap into for Startover”

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Startover and Catchup are different.

For Catchup you have to wait until the programme has finished before you can watch it from On Demand.

Startover is available while the programme is still showing on a supported channel. That's not something you can do via On Demand on a TiVo or V6 box outside of the BBC iPlayer.

As for the BBC, they are very strict about non-linear content access - everything has to go through the iPlayer app for Connected devices.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Well coincidence then that every single programme with the Startover symbol (which is not really a lot) in the epg is already available in the Catchup section for that channel. Most content in the epg with this symbol is faded out, meaning you have to wait for it to actually finish before it's added to the relevant Catchup service in order to watch.
With BBC live content aside, this Startover gimmick is just a rebrand of Catchup on the V6.

---------- Post added at 08:50 ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 ----------

That engineer is a liar.
Try it for yourself, all Startover programmes with this symbol are already available on demand in the relevant Catchup players or Apps. Even if the symbol is faded out ( which is most), you can't access it until the channel provider has made it available, after broadcast, via its own catchup service or app.
The 360 box is just accessing the Catchup content, not the cloud. Same as the V6, but just rebranded Startup.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Here's an example of what happens for new content for 'record in the cloud':

MTV HD - I Used To Be Fat.

Two episodes are accessible as streaming content. Both are from this morning. One is live now and is a Startover option. The other was on earlier this morning and is now part of Catch Up.

The next episode at 10:00 is only available to record. It's not a show you can already watch via On Demand. When it starts though, it will have the Watch live / Watch from start option, and once it is finished it will be part of Catch Up.

---------- Post added at 09:40 ---------- Previous post was at 09:24 ----------

Conversely a non-startover channel is E4 HD. 'Don't tell the bride' is only a Catch Up program. So the episode that's showing now you can't go back to beginning on it until it's finished and is added to On Demand.

But even if or where the 'Watch from start' option links to existing content in On Demand for repeated shows on supported channels, why is that a bad thing?

It makes that content easier to access rather than having to know whether it's available to watch and where it is in the menus.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

“ That engineer is a liar.”

... or perhaps fox35 doesn’t want to understand THAT THIS IS A NEW FUNCTION.
Thanks to Ben for explaining.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Well it is clearly not a "new function", but rather a rehash of an existing way to view shows from the beginning in Catch Up TV, either via the box or the relevant stand-alone Apps.
The 360 is flawed and a vastly inferior product to the V6 Tivo in every regard.
My 2 360 boxes are due to be changed back for V6s within the next week, thankfully.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

As I said, you simply don’t want to understand because it’s not the answer you want to hear.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I wonder if this is indirectly related to why there were a host of "new" channels on VM TV Go app when I booted it up yesterday for first time in a few weeks.

There were lots of +1s and HD versions, and some that haven't been available either ever or for ages. If they are now recording everything to add to "the cloud" to enable Startover then that same feed can be used for streaming.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Unless you have a 360 box the channels should be the same as they were in TV Go i.e. it should only show those you can stream to watch in the app.

360 customers will see more channels than can be streamed as the recording management functions are in the app too instead of the separate TV Control needed for TiVo/V6. So those customers need to see the listing of channels in their profile so they can set the recordings on them.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Most of the Discovery branded/owned channels, CBS channels and a good few others have the Startover option. The only way it seems to appear though is if you scroll to the channel by pressing OK and using the "mini-guide" at the foot of the screen then hitting OK to view the channel or selecting the channel directly from the main guide - in those cases a pop-up gives you the option to "Watch Live" or "Watch from the Start". If you access the channel directly (by entering the channel no.) the pop up doesn't appear but pressing the ... (info) button will give you the option.

Also, for the Channel 4 group of channels, while Starover isn't available, scrolling back through the guide and selecting will play the programme in HD - All4 and C4 catch up on the V6 was only SD IIRC.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Prime Video is now part of the search, so it covers the majority of content available on the box

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5...ly/m-p/4517441

Netflix isn't in the 360 search, but that's down to Netflix not currently wanting to do search integration rather than a technical limitation.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

It's showing channels that are in my tier, it's just that there are many more now, there was a limited selection compared to my V6 before.

I'll look closer, I didn't have enough time to fully see what it would allow. Thanks BenMcr.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

So basically Catch Up made available via a prompt whilst tuning to the channel.:D

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Correct.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Freesport HD is currently showing a live La Liga football game that has Watch from start available.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

That is not live tv. It was played yesterday.
This is available in the Premier Sports Catchup App. So as muppetman11 pointed out, the Startover prompt in the live epg just plays it out from the Catchup content, which was and is already available.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Fair enough. The big 'live' in the bottom right of the picture shouldn't really be there then!

As for the 'Catchup', I don't think that's on the V6, and is subscription content on the 360.

---------- Post added at 17:58 ---------- Previous post was at 17:37 ----------

And the next football match which says it's live in the guide and on screen also has Watch from start available

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

OK, a second person who can’t understand STARTOVER IS DIFFERENT AND NEW, despite Ben’s excellent explanation.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

In fairness, if as they're claiming it's just a one button way to access an on demand episode of the same programme (or the BBC 'watch from start') then it's not really a new feature.

If it's available on 'live' programming (no laughing at the back you lot from the linear television thread) or channels where a catch up version of the same episode isn't available then I'll accept it's a new feature.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

It's both - but that depends on the content and the channel.

For live or first broadcast content on supported channels, the behaviour is new and isn't available on TiVo/V6.

Where a channel repeats content and that content is already available via other routes it behaves like a deep link - even where the 'watch from start' version may be time shifted from the specific broadcast on the channel.

But as I asked earlier, what's wrong with that? The end experience is a quick and easy way to 'rewind' the specific thing you're trying to watch without having to worry about where it's coming from.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Happy to confirm the Porto game is currently live on Freesports and has a 'watch from start' option.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Yes, it was.
But it was a shortcut taken from the live feed already playing out and available to rewind from the beginning within the Premier Sports catchup app, albeit behind a subscription.
Most if not all the Free Sports channel content, including live in real time or recorded, is available from its parent Premier Sports catchup app, both live and on-demand, behind a subscription wall for premium live content, of which the Porto v Tondell game was.
The 360 Startup is a shortcut prompt to that you straight to that content.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I honestly do not understand what the point you're trying to make there is.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

My Premier Player app didn't let me return to the start I could only go back about half an hour. Happy to test again this afternoon with the Roma game.

Edit: I subscribe to Premier Sports via Sky and in app on Android I can only go back 16 minutes on all channels.

I've tried to access the Spence fight from overnight and it says it's being catalogued and cannot be watched at this time. I'm assuming (as I don't subscribe via Virgin) that this had a 'watch live' option on 360.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

The fact that "STARTOVER IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND NEW" as has been alluded. Which it is not.
Yes I agree, It is a quick and useful prompt to the functionality via an app or catchup content, no argument.
But BBC iplayer have been doing this for a while now anyway on the V6, and I'm sure even Youview+ were doing it for years from their epg, obviously with lesser premium content.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I wasn't trying to claim that it was new as a concept or that other apps or TV platforms weren't doing it in some form already. I'm not aware of official Virgin Media communications doing that either:

https://www.virginmedia.com/corporat...ing-experience

This thread is specifically about the 360 boxes, and Startover is new to Virgin TV itself as part of 360. It doesn't currently exist on TiVo/V6 outside of iPlayer, and the iPlayer app function isn't integrated into the TiVo EPG.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Can someone please explain the Watchlist function, specifically why not all shows are able to be added to it? Also, why one episode from one series can be added from one channel, but a different episode from a different series on another channel can not?
Whereas V6 TiVo Bookmarks searched for all available episodes of a particular show across all channels and added them to the list, easily and simple.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Startup sounds neat, but because it's something that is going to be gimped very rapidly by it missing on a lot of channels due to licensing/greed it's not a replacement for just having your boxes buffers just recording the channels passively.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Not that I'm much of an authority round here but I'm happy for it to be called a "new feature" if it does something that the V6 doesn't. A one button link to catch up on it's own wouldn't cut it for me - as if you really wanted to you could search On Demand. Same with a link to iPlayer "watch from start".

However as we've established it works on (currently a select few) channels where there are no alternative methods available of watching from the start I'm content with 'new feature'. Hopefully something that they can expand on as they negotiate with third parties.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

It's also "new" in that on the C4 group of channels (which don't have watch from start when the programme is airing)you can scrolll back and watch a programme from immediatly after it ends. One example being C4 news on C4HD (which isn't availabe on normal All4 catch-up IIRC) can be watched after it's aired. It's definitely a scroll back as it's in HD complete with the same ads as in the live version so it looks like it has been recorded in the cloud (as mentioned earlier). C4 catchup is normally SD only.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Thought I'd just mention that from today Virgin TV 360 has now launched as the new TV customer service.

Existing Ultimate Oomph customers can also choose to swap to 360 via a hardware change to a main HDD box and a mini box. Other existing TV customers can choose 360 as part of an upgrade to Ultimate Oomph.

The options for 360 for existing TV customers not on or upgrading to Ultimate Oomph will be coming next year. That'll include the in-place V6 upgrades currently in pilot.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Try this link mate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEKXTXLlphM

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

There is an tips video on the help page here too

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-tv-360

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Did VM consult with any disability groups when rolling this out? Would be interesting to understand how they would view the removal of the subtitle button and relegation of it to a submenu on a multi-function button.

As someone who has had experience of the aftermath of the transition from the older YouView to the newer thumbnail navigation version, I do hope VM are ready for the legion of grannies confused with the new system. Going from something largely text based to a thumbnail driven system with less text is massively confusing for the older generation and will generate plenty of support calls or just flat out frustration.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Yes they have.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-an...ty-report-2020

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...eport-2020.pdf

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asse...a-response.pdf

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Good news, cheers Ben!

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I'm no granny but I prefer a text-based user interface. Better use of screen space for a start.

That's good to hear though BenMcr.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I've just been on chat asking about 360 and I was quoated a £65 activation and installation fee. I told him to keep it especially as there is a free activation promotion being advertised until tomorrow. Besides, I thought it was self installation.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

They're having laugh. :td:

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

If you have 2 boxes for your Ultimate Oomph bundle, then you can do a QS swap for the 360 boxes.

So you shouldn't have to pay for manned install. The £35 activation fee would still apply though.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

QS swap? Do you have any idea if/when existing customers will be forced onto the 360 software? The general rumour is that it will be in nine months time.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Sorry that's Quickstart swap i.e. Self install.

As for a forced migration, I have no idea where that date has come from. Nothing has been said about any forced move from TiVo for any customer.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Hi @BenMcr, I have identified that poor performance and functionality issues seem to be mostly related to the updated ex V6 Arris boxes running the 4.28 version. Are you or VM aware of this?

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Thanks Ben. I don't know where that dates come from either. It was reported that VM last signed a deal with TiVo in November 2017 so, assuming it was for 5 years, that would be November 2022, not September next year!

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

You are the only person spreading this rumour, please stop.

VM have not made any announcement about forcing people to migrate to TV360, its a different product to the TiVo platform with different features. I can also clarify that there is no forced migration planned in the near future.

When TiVo launched on the VM platform 10 years ago, people were not force migrated from the legacy PVR's, in fact there are still 1000's of legacy V+ and TV Drive's out there today.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

No, i'm not.

I think that VM will eventually migrate existing customers at some point as they won't want to carry on paying to use the TiVo software when they have the LG Horizon/TV360 software that they own. The question is when, as I will have to take this into consideration come contract renewal time. I like the TiVo software, so will keep it for as long as I can, but don't care for the TV360 and intend to change to Sky Q when I can no longer have it.

I think that you are incorrect about the legacy PVR's and that the only boxes now officially in use on the VM platform are the TiVo, V6 and now the TV360. Happy to be corrected if i'm wrong, but I believe that all channels were removed from the legacy boxes apart from channels 1-5 in a last ditch effort to push people to swap over. Maybe some people still have them with these few channels and are paying for them! I really don't know.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Richard can you provide a source for that rumour?

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Again you are speculating, you are indeed incorrect.

Not sure what you mean by "channels were removed" as the broadcast TV platform is exactly the same as it was when it was deployed in 2007. The type of box is the only difference, nothing to do with the broadcast TV network.

I can confirm that older boxes are still active on the network as I'm currently staring at a live TV Drive box as well as checking the inventory list on the network confirms a lot of active devices across all three network areas in the UK.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

There is no source...

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Richard is correct that only channels 101 to 105 and 113 remain on V+ and V-HD boxes. However, that's all that many users want. We aren't currently forcing these users to move to TiVo, never mind TV360.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Correct. Put together a few random facts and make wild assumptions. That's all. Not even the acceptance of the above facts will get an apology.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

He isn't correct, if the customers account is still provisioned with the legacy DTV codes then they will have access to the full channel list. As I stated, I have a test TV Drive box (silver, pre V+) here with the legacy codes and I can get all channels including premium.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Your box still lists the channels because it's on really old software. This isn't the case with customers' boxes.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Its nothing to do with the software, the legacy software hasn't been updated in a along time now. This is down to how equipment is provisioned on the billing platform. Over the years, most boxes have been swapped out or customers have upgraded their service but there are still a good number of legacy boxes out there ;)

The point wasn't so much that it isn't possible, my post referred more to the bizarre statements from RC about removing channels being the reason for lack of service on legacy boxes.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Channels have been removed from the Liberate based V boxes for customers over the time, either by technology changes or specific activity.

The main change has been the move of channels to MPEG4 which means only a Samsung V+ box or a V HD box would be able to decode them. A TV Drive installed on the customer network will not pick up anything - even if it could still see the channel listing.

Sky Cinema and Sports channels were also specifically removed and accounts updated to stop V boxes receiving them, again alongside their move to MPEG4.

For any Samsung V+ or V HD boxes that remain installed, all paid channels will no longer be authorised on the Smartcards. So at most they'd be able to see BBC One to Channel 5, but likely with some warning messages on screen too.

The V box decommissioning didn't start until many years after the launch of TiVo and V6, and it took literally years of activity to get customers to swap for different reasons. Only at the very end of the activity in 2018 to early 2019 was there a forced migration for remaining customers with a V box.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/show...php?t=33706401

I see no reason why any migration of customers from TiVo/V6 won't be managed in the same way - starting with all new TV customers (whether brand new or with other existing cable service) now being 360 only.

So TiVo/V6 isn't going away anytime soon, nor will anyone be migrated without a clear understanding of when and why.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Well said Ben :)

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Indeed. Ben (& SP) have both reassured me and corrected your misunderstanding of the situsation.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

How to make friends and influence people by RC :)

No misunderstanding on my part mate.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Your posting style comes across as though you like to think that you know everything and cannot accept that, like everyone, this is impossible.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Your posting style makes you come across as crass and sarcastic, but hey we aren't all shouting about that.

P.S. I do know everything ;)

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

im assuming the mini boxes still need the coax cable and dont work via wifi or anything inherently cool? if I have a point upstairs for the existing broadband, im guessing I could use that for TV as well.

tried phoning virgin tonight but was on hold for 30 mins

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Correct. All 360 boxes still need a coax connection.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Is this installed for free for the second box Ben?

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Does the 2nd box/minibox only need coax cable to receive live tv/epg channels? If so are all the apps, catchup and boxsets available without the coax? and could you still watch BBC live via the iplayer app?
Is this the same for a second updated V6 box rather than a minibox?

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Pricing is the same as today it has been since the Summer for additional boxes. You will get a manned install for any 360 mini boxes if you need it. Covid-19 secure rules allowing.

And although some of the box features may work over the home network rather than a coax connection, Virgin Media won't supply it without a full install. A box not connected to coax throws up all sorts of errors in diagnostics and I'm honestly not sure how the 360 platform deals with it from a customer perspective. It's not a planned scenario.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

What about after the end of linear television will it need coax? Asking for a friend.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

:D:D:D

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

:D:D:D

To absent friends. :beer:

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

So are the mini boxes different to multi-room boxes? It seems in Ireland the connection setup on their 360 Multi-view room boxes allow you to connect via Ethernet or Wi-Fi as shown here: https://www.virginmedia.ie/virgintv3...-room-viewing/

Why have they gone down a different approach for the UK? Just curious by the way. As the above posts sounds like a coax cable is required for any mini boxes.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

The UK and Ireland mini boxes are exactly the same.

https://www.virginmedia.ie/virgintv3...ion-and-setup/

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I'm specifically talking about multi-room boxes that aren't connected via Coax according to their setup video guide. I think it actually states that in the quote you've posted

"MRV boxes will be connected via Wi-Fi or using a Powerline adapter if required."

Assuming MRV = Multi-room? Although they don't specifically mention 360 at the end of your quote but the link I posted mentions 360 multi-room and there isn't a mention of coax.

It's just a bit confusing that the whole video doesn't mention it needs to be connected via Coax and goes along the setup of connecting it via Ethernet or Wifi.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

'MRV 360 box' is the UK 360 Mini box. There is only one version of the 360 non-HDD box. It's the same in Ireland as it is in the UK. It requires coax.

So the setup instructions is in addition to coax, not instead of.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Don't you think it should mention coax in this specific video on here though? https://www.virginmedia.ie/virgintv3...-room-viewing/

There doesn't seem to be a mention of it. There is on your link and the video posted on there, as they even show an image of the cable/splitter. But on the dedicated Multi-room viewing page, the video doesn't seem to mention it and states it uses wifi or ethenet to connect to the main 360 box. So hence the questions and confusion.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I'm not disagreeing there that the Multi-Room page is confusing around the coax requirement. Doesn't change the fact that all 360 boxes need a coax connection.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Hopefully they will update it at some point when they realise. I appreciate your replies though and for clearing up the confusion.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

How much would it cost to have a second box installed at the same time as time as the main TV360 for existing customers? Does it matter if the new software is installed OTA onto a V6 and wouldn't normally require an engineer visit?

Am I right to assume that the main & secondary box are included in the installation and subscription costs for new customers?

Thanks.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

www.virginmedia.com/shop

The £10 is for the first additional box, not the main box.

The only bundle where an additional box is included in the quoted bundle cost is the Ultimate Oomph. That's the same for new and existing customers.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I had thought that the first extra TV360 box was free on every package, thanks for explaining :)

Some of those on the trial were told that there wouldn't be any price increase, but their bills subsequently went up by £10, which ties in with what you've said.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Hi does anybody know when the horizon box come out in Nottingham
Regards stephen

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Horizon box?

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

It’s available now to new customers and existing customers upgrading to the ultimate Oomph.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

do we know what the cost for the ultimate oomph is for existing customers? I did renew just recently but am thinking about the upgrade if its not too much, but I have spent so long on hold this week i have given up.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I'm pretty sure it tells you on the website the cost of each package.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Well, there's the RRP and the roulette wheel of retentions. ;)

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Isn't it typical of VM considering I've been with them and their predecessors for 20+ I have no offers for this. But a new customer can get it for same price has I am paying for my V6.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

not for existing customers.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I upgraded a month ago via the web chat. they did it for £85 a month. I was only 4 months into an 18 month contract too.

Week or so later I was invited to the current V6 software upgrade to TV360 trial.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

That is only £4 less a month a new customer gets if for in a 18 month contract.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I am only on the Bigger Bundle with 2 Maxit TV V6 boxes, not on the Oomph Bundle, and was still invited to join the 360 "upgrade" at no charge.
It is most definitely NOT an "upgrade", I see it as just a different menu and operating system with the same channels and content but accessed differently.
I wouldn't get upset about not getting the invite (I wish I never!) and at this stage I would not recommend it until all the bugs are ironed out with software fixes.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Very true.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

thanks!

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Having received the new tv360 main box and mini box I can say that I like the speed and look of the new interface. Tbh we don’t record much and mainly stream/watch from catchup so won’t miss the extra storage we had from two V6 boxes but with hard drives so cheap I think VM would have saved their support staff a lot of grief if they had put a 2TB drive in the main box. Ok the mini box having to have coax is still annoying but most other issues can be fixed with software updates.

The annoying issue were catch-up kept failing on the V6 until I rebooted is also gone. And the Netflix and Amazon prime apps seem to actually work now.

Personally I preferred to have new boxes after having had the V6s for a number of years those considering the software update method should be aware their hard drives aren’t likely to last too much longer. Also looking at VMs user forum it seems many of the issues are with converted V6s so why risk it for a bit more storage.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

I've been giving the new 360 software a whirl. I'm going to try and be objective here and give a balanced take things based on the current software version. Before I start, here are some health warnings:

• I'm normally a Sky+ user
• These are just my opinions
• I only played around with it for a couple hours
• I've not tested the profile section
• It's a good while since I've properly used the TiVo based software so might be being unfair in some criticisms
• The box I was using was an upgraded V6 rather than a fresh install
• My lack of overall usage may mean I've missed some shortcuts that might make some of my criticisms irrelevant, and I'm happy to be corrected.
• I appreciate that with all new things, there is a learning curve

So let's start with the positives.

It looks a whole lot better than the TiVO based software and works really fast. This is very subjective I know, but I like it. Channel change is near instantaneous and matches Sky+ which is great.

Watchlists I think will actually be really useful. If you've found something you don't want to watch immediately, and it was hard to find, you can save it there and get super quick access. If they can find some way of working around Netflix's stupid stance on search integration I think this will actually be one of its better features.

I was in the "voice search is a gimmick" camp but actually is really useful. It's usually the fasted way of getting to things in most cases if you know what you are looking for. I think it would become my preferred method of search in the long term.

The new guide is nice and clean and doesn't feel cluttered. It's just a bit of a change to have the programme information at the bottom when just about every thing else I've used has it at the top. This isn't wrong, just not something my brain is used to.

I think some of the menu layouts are a lot more user friendly than TiVo and in some respects does a better job displaying information. I also don't feel like I'm going really deep down into menus like I used to.

Start Over is actually a really cool idea - it's just a shame it's across limited channels. I'm not here to get into a debate about this is just a rebrand of catch up (it isn't) but I think this kind of gets around the need to have the box buffering multiple channels itself - a great feature I admit, but I suspect most box users have no clue it's there on the TiVO and I'm not even sure people who do find it get it. This makes the whole thing a lot more accessible for the average user. And it removes a significant overhead on the boxes in ordinary use which will help with overall performance.

But quite why start over and catch up have the same icon I don't know.

So where am I on the fence.

I quite like the new filtering system in the guide and on demand as it's a quick way of reorganising things but it's not easy to clear filters once they are set. This is where the old clear button would have come in useful. It would be good if you could save a preference for the sort by filter because that's "popular" by default and I'd much rather it was alphabetical. More on that in the section below.

Whilst the new mini guide is nice and clean, information hierarchy isn't great and it's hard to see what you are looking and or what is the most important piece information.

The remote itself. I'm not sure what it is but I feel they could have done better.

The new programme info screens. They look great, but if I only want to see a synopsis it's a bit of an overkill but it does remove that quirk of the TiVo software where pressing info on a programme shows something different depending on whether or not you have the mini guide open.

OK so to what I don't like.

My biggest issue is there seems to be some really odd UX choices that make things unnecessarily complicated.

You go into a very similar sections and the layout is completely different for no obvious reason e.g. Catch Up VS Sky Cinema.

There are multiple ways to get to the same content but they behave very differently. The TiVO system was guilty of this too admittedly.

The home key doesn't behave consistently. Sometimes it goes back to home, sometimes it goes back one step.

If you're trying to get people to understand a new system consistency is key.

Is it clear that pressing OK expands menus in the new home screen? I'm not so sure. Once you've worked that out, it's fine but my parents were confused.

The fact there isn't really a proper list of your series links is an interesting omission given that is probably the best feature of the TiVo based software. There is the upcoming section but that's not really doing the job.

There are the broader series link issues which are well documented so won't say too much. But to have done such a half arsed job of it for launch, given the series link heritage of TiVo, especially when you're trying to convince some higher paying customers to move across seems a very interesting decision. It just did it's job cleverly and the user didn't have to think too much about it. And this is something that definitely isn't flagged clearly.

From a recording perspective, the default is to show all recordings across both boxes which I feel is an odd default but you need to remember that there is meant to be a parent and child box set up. It's already caused a number of accidental deletions (which you coincidentally now can't retrieve from a deleted folder - once they're gone, they're gone) because the other household member didn't remember setting up those recordings. Yes you can filter it for your box, it doesn't remember the next time you come in. I guess this is because it's geared towards a parent and child box set up rather than two parent boxes.

And this audio sync bug that doesn't seem to have been officially acknowledged by Virgin. Not sure how wide spread it is and whether it affects only those who upgraded their V6 boxes with external amplifiers. But every day you turn the box on, the audio/video is out of sync to a different degree and needs to be manually adjusted. I think I've found a solution but it's a bit annoying.

A more minor quibble is the fact that it doesn't remember your filters. Which is a good and bad thing and there is no right and wrong answer but it would be good to have the choice. For sort by and also what recordings you are looking at e.g. all VS a specific box.

Some speculation and opinion now.

So that's my take on the new software as it stands. A lot of this can be resolved with software updates which I'm sure will come. But I think it might be a interesting change in direction for Virgin.

You have an existing platform that is feature rich, but is possibly costing a small fortune to license when 90% of its user base uses only half of its features. I've made these numbers up by the way but that's an assumption I've made.

So you start your own platform and make it do what 90% of the user base want and save on the licensing costs. Lower fees passed onto the user. To be clear, the 360 platform isn't at this point yet.

This approach will obviously annoy a certain customer segment but I guess they hope that some of those more advanced users move across and settle. Not that I'm saying that this is the correct or fair approach, nor this is actually the approach that Virgin are taking. This is my reading of the situation so it's just an opinion.

So what would I recommend:

• If you're a new customer, you don't have a choice
• If you're an existing customer on the right package and aren't a power user, I'd probably hold off unless you want the slicker interface
• If you're a power user, stick with what you've got

Hope people have found this useful!

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

It is a known error. Until it's fixed, I'd recommend leaving the audio delay setting at zero, and changing your TV picture settings to reduce the video processing delay instead. High frame rate settings are often the culprit. Changing settings like film mode and game mode can also help.

If you do have an amp, it might also have an audio delay setting you could use.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Glad it's known. There was a thread on the official forum but no one from VM has participated. Also hadn't seen it mentioned here so wasn't sure how prevalent it was.

Those are helpful tips - thanks Spiderplant. I will have a tinker with things this afternoon. I'll have to dig into their Sony's TV settings.

Update: Put the TV in Cinema mode and that seems to have solved the issue!

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

This depends on how your household uses the boxes.


If you're independent adults living in a shared house and you've each got a box in your room, then you'd want it to just show your recordings, with a way of finding other recordings when your housemate happened to mention a great show they'd been watching.


If you live alone and have a box in the lounge and a box in the bedroom, you don't want to have to think about which box you were on when you made the recording - you'd want it to show up the same everywhere.


I've seen mention of profiles. Can you have your old behaviour by both using your own profile?




It's all very well saying wait for the software updates, but this isn't new software. It's already in use in other countries, so I'd have expected them to have resolved problems like over-recording series links and audio syncing by now.

Re: Virgin TV 360 users (Horizon)
 

Can someone please explain Watchlist, the extremely poor substitute for Bookmarks, and how it works, specifically why not all epg content can be added?..So what is the point?